Hawaii Daily News Read

Friday, November 6, 2026

November 6, 2026 News Read

By Andrew Walden @ 9:37 AM :: 361 Views

Fourth Read -- 2026 Hawaii General Election Results

Fourth Read Results for All Ballot Questions Statewide

Attorney General Todd Blanche Honors 10 District of Hawaii Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Staff, and Agents at 2026 Director’s Awards

Senate Announces Leadership, Committee Assignments

2027 State Tax Competitiveness Index--Hawaii 43rd

Hawaii Condo Owners Forum at Capitol November 14

NASA Withdraws Barking Sands FEIS

Green Punishes Hawaii Attorney General for leading corruption probe into his Administration

SA: … Lopez’s departure comes as one of the highest profile corruption prosecutions in Hawaii’s history remains unresolved.

(TRANSLATION: Green will appoint a new AG who will make it all go away. He has his eyes on a bright new career as head of HHS in the cabinet of President Gavin Newsom.)

The Department of the Attorney General presented evidence to a grand jury July 24 uncovered during a six-month investigation spurred by a separate federal criminal case involving $35,000 given to an “influential lawmaker” in 2022.

Luke, who is on unpaid leave and quit her reelection campaign in April, is accused of criminal conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery and falsifying candidate committee reports.

(And Lopez was doing PRPs bidding by making Luke go away so PRP/Green could install Kawakami as LG/next Governor. But then she didn’t stop….)

>> Former state Rep. Ryan Yamane, who is also the former director of the Department of Human Services, was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery.

>> Ford Fuchigami, airports administrator at the state Department of Transportation, was indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, use of false statement and obstruction of justice.

>> Leo Asuncion Jr., a former Luke campaign volunteer and Public Utilities Commission chair, was charged with falsifying candidate committee reports, use of false statement and obstruction of justice.

>> And lobbyist and businessman Tobi Solidum was charged with four counts of conspiracy to commit bribery and three counts of bribery. A no-bail warrant was issued for Solidum, who has fled to the Philippines.

(So Green is now stopping this investigation before more of his corrupt administration is brought down.)

KITV: Anne Lopez to leave role as Hawaii’s Attorney General in December after serving for 4 years | News | kitv.com

CB: Hawaiʻi’s AG Is Soon Out, Lost Support Of Governor Green

read … Hawaii Attorney General who led corruption probe is not reappointed | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Land and Power: Hawaii gets 25 new ‘opportunity zones’ keyed in to Rail TOD Areas

PBN: … Oahu is getting opportunity zones at Aloha Stadium, Chinatown, swaths of Waikiki and Iwilei, which the state is seeking to redevelop in the coming years…. Oahu received 19 zones while Hawaii Island got four and Maui received two…. There are no zones on Kauai or Molokai in this round. The second iteration of the program launches on Jan. 1. Some of the most prominent zones on the Neighbor Islands include Hilo, Lahaina's Front Street and North Kona….

2017: Rail Stations Designed to Profit KSBE, HECO, First Hawaiian

USTreasuryDept: Treasury, IRS Announce Opportunity Zones Designations for Over 6,500 Communities Across America | U.S. Department of the Treasury

USTreasuryDept: Opportunity Zones Resources | Community Development Financial Institutions Fund

KHON: Federal tax breaks target 25 Hawaii areas to improve affordability

HNN: Gov. Green announces Hawaii’s opportunity zones 2.0 designations | Hawaii News Now

Read … Hawaii gets 25 new opportunity zones for investment - Pacific Business News

Maui Election Results all about Bill 9

SA: … The race for Maui mayor was the marker, with incumbent Richard Bissen — a former judge but political newcomer when elected in 2022 — staking his reelection on eliminating substantial numbers of short-term rentals (STRs, aka transient vacation rentals in Maui County regulations), as a divided County Council had voted to do with Bill 9 on Dec. 15. With most Maui ballots counted, a solid 56% of voters supported him for reelection over two challengers who vowed to reverse the STR phaseout — this despite subsequent County Council action that allows for rezoning and continued STR operations for developments purpose-built as hotel-like properties, a process that’s ongoing.

Bissen’s closest challenger, Yuki Lei Sugimura, soft-pedaled her stance as defender of these STR commercial units in Maui residential zones — promising instead to “cut through delays” and enable faster build-out of new affordable housing units. A majority of voters didn’t buy that offer…

(CLUE: Bill 9 is an illusion. It is unconstitutional to take property or property entitlements without compensation. Bill 9 lawsuits will produce a court order for such compensation, then Maui County will abandon Bill 9 because it has no money to buy these units or their entitlements. … But Bill 9 was there long enough to get voters to releect Missen Bissen, a slate of ‘progressive’ quactivists to Council, and elect the meth dealer’s son in HD14.)

Read … Editorial: Fulfill Maui’s vote for affordability | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Honolulu City Council installs new leadership after controversial meeting

KITV: … The Honolulu City Council voted to install new leadership after a controversial meeting that included a handful of council members but left out the rest.

"No position on this council is more important than following the law and earning the public's trust and that applies to all of us," said Councilwoman Andria Tupola.

Anonymous complaints allege five council members met at Zippy's on Oct. 5 to discuss leadership and committee positions behind closed doors — Radiant Cordero, Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, Augie Tulba, Esther Kia'aina and Matt Weyer.

The Honolulu City Council has selected its next leadership team amid questions about an alleged private meeting involving five councilmembers. Tyler Dos Santos-Tam was approved as chair, Esther Kiaʻāina as vice-chair and Scott Nishimoto as floor leader, while a state investigation into possible Sunshine Law violations remains open.

"How many of us have gotten together with coworkers at a restaurant and just talked about things?" said Camron Hurt, state director of Common Cause Hawaii. "The difference is we're not deciding policy for our jobs when we're meeting up and having pau hanas with our friends and family, and these individuals were potentially deciding policy."

A month later, the council approved Dos Santos-Tam as the new chair, Kia'aina vice-chair and Scott Nishimoto, floor leader effective Dec. 1. But under the rules the council will have to reorganize again in January.

"This measure is an attempt to predetermine and lock down power before the new council convenes, and it's and it is doing so under an active, unresolved legal cloud," said Councilwoman Val Okimoto.

The Office of Information Practices has an open investigation into allegations the five council members violated the state's open meetings Sunshine Law ….

SA: City Council names Dos Santos-Tam as next chair amid questions about Zippy’s meeting | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

CB: Tyler Dos Santos-Tam Elected Honolulu Council Chair - Honolulu Civil Beat

Read … Honolulu City Council installs new leadership after controversial meeting | News | kitv.com

New Maui council supermajority could reshape who is getting paid off by tourism, development interests

HNN: … the election shifts the makeup of the nine-member council from a 5-4 majority favoring development to a 6-3 ‘progressive’ split….

“Six is a very important number because it’s a supermajority. They can override vetoes of the mayor, so I think we will probably see many actions taken,” Mayer said….

read … New Maui council supermajority could reshape tourism, development | Hawaii News Now

Calls for more in-person voting sites in Hawaii persist

SA: … Worries over long lines of last-minute election-day voters never materialized, and the Honolulu Hale voter service center was the last one to close in the state, with one final voter casting a ballot after the 7 p.m. end of voting, according to Rex Quidilla, administrator for the Honolulu Office of Elections.

Starting in the morning, long lines of vehicles, however, did stretch along Beretania Street past the Honolulu Police Department, down Punchbowl Street and onto King Street to place voters’ filled out, mail-in ballots into drop boxes outside Honolulu Hale for much of Tuesday, Quidilla said.

There was an incident in front of Honolulu Hale on election night when Quidilla and two Honolulu Police Department officers had to tell a man dressed in a tan tactical vest with the word “ICE” on the back that he had to leave because he was in an area reserved for election business, including voters….

On election day, Common Cause had 84 trained election protection workers across the state and the incident at Honolulu Hale showed that election workers have plenty of support that would help counties operate more in-person voting sites on election day, Hurt said.

Since Oahu already opens two additional in-person voting sites in the days leading up to election day, Hurt argued that counties should open fewer in-person sites early and more on election day to encourage more in-person voting.

“That doesn’t mean polling locations in every school, but it does mean that the biggest county in the state should have more than two in-person voting locations on the day of,” Hurt said….

read … Calls for more in-person voting sites in Hawaii persist | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Regents support amendments to UH’s Maunakea management plan

HTH: … Gregory Chun, the executive director of the UH Hilo Center for Maunakea Stewardship, told the regents’ Facilities and Long Range Planning Committee that the changes were meant to align the UH management plan more closely with Act 255, the legislation that created MKSOA, which states that the agency’s management plan can include the use of decommissioned sites for future facilities….

(CLUE: The Legislature has voted that on June 30, 2028 Mauna Kea will revert to UH control if MKSOA fails to come up with a management plan. MKSOA will fail. Reference: 2026 HB 2592 enacted into law as Act 053 on May 27, 2026.)

read … Regents support amendments to UH’s Maunakea management plan | Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Ex-volunteer firefighter’s lawsuit against the county proceeds

HTH: … Just over five years after Elizabeth Stabo was severely burned while helping to combat a brushfire in Ka‘u, a lawsuit she filed against the Hawaii Fire Department and its leadership at the time is moving forward.

Stabo, who served as a volunteer firefighter in Na‘alehu for over 10 years, responded to several fires in the region during the summer of 2021, following an initial fire that is believed to have ignited in April of that year and spread underground.

On Sept. 3, 2021, Stabo was called to respond to a flare-up of the fire. She was deploying a hose at the site with HFD Capt. Ka‘aina Keawe when she collapsed waist-deep into a burning hole near the blaze, where she was stuck for approximately 40 seconds before Keawe was able to get her out.

According to the lawsuit, the fire had been burning below the surface over the course of the previous months, which resulted in the unstable ground.

“With the fire burning the vegetation underground, there was nothing to support the walking surface,” the lawsuit states. “(Stabo) experienced extreme pain and sustained severe burn injuries before she was pulled from the fire pit by Ka‘aina Keawe.”

As reported previously by the Tribune-Herald, Stabo suffered third-degree burns on her legs and lower body and was in a wheelchair following the incident….

Read … Ex-volunteer firefighter’s lawsuit against the county proceeds | Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Par Pacific’s Hawaii biorefinery continues to ramp production in Q3

EPM: … The biorefinery is located at the Par Pacific’s Kapolei refinery and has the capacity to produce 61 MMgy of renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable naphtha and low-carbon liquefied petroleum gases. The project is designed to have the flexibility to produce up to 90% SAF or 90% renewable diesel. …

“Renewable diesel production ramped quickly following July's turnaround with September throughput of approximately 3,700 barrels per day,” he added. “Just as encouraging, the business is operating at a competitive operating expense per gallon, which is essential to the long-term durability of the platform.”

Richard Creamer, senior advisor at Par Pacific, said the biorefinery processed canola, yellow grease and tallow feedstocks during the third quarter. “Now, our forward focus shifts to sustaining reliable operations and optimizing the pretreatment and hydrotreater units,” he said.

Par Pacific’s renewables segment achieved throughput of 78,000 gallons per day during the third quarter, with sales at 72,000 gallons per day.

Moving into the fourth quarter, Creamer said Hawaii renewables throughput is excepted to average between 2,800 and 3,400 barrels per day, reflecting continued feedstock optimization and operating flexibility.

The renewables segment reported operating income of $8.7 million for the third quarter, with adjusted gross margin at $7.8 million….

Read … Par Pacific’s Hawaii biorefinery continues to ramp production in Q3 | Ethanol Producer Magazine

In The War On Mosquitos, Bird Advocates Shift Their Game Plan

CB: … Saving the birds from extinction is a tall order, said Hanna Mounce, program manager at the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project, the nonprofit engaging with the pilot program on Maui. It requires getting the mosquitos on the island “down to almost nothing” or 95% less than normal levels.

Despite the hope the conservation community had put into the program, by late 2025, the data made it clear that the incompatible insect technique wasn’t meeting that moment. After Mounce and other researchers and technicians on the ground tried tweaking the process multiple times for efficacy, they found that it wasn’t preventing malaria at the rates needed to stave off extinction.

But that wasn’t all. On Kauaʻi last winter an unprecedented number of mosquitos appeared on the Alakaʻi Plateau, the one sliver of the island where native forest birds were still hanging on. The consequences were dramatic: Populations of native bird species plummeted.

In March, the Birds Not Mosquitos coalition decided to quietly hit the pause button on the incompatible insect technique, and consider other options.

Over the summer, the Birds Not Mosquitos coalition shifted its focus to a less-expensive, well-known product called bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis or BTI. It’s the same larvicide used in a common product called Mosquito Dunks, and it’s safe enough to be used on organic farms.

Now, the plan is to deploy BTI on a landscape-level — first on Maui beginning this month and then on the rest of the islands if the funding to do so materializes. But funding is the operative question, even on Maui, where the coalition’s budget only covers the project through 2027. …

Read … In The War On Mosquitos, Bird Advocates Shift Their Game Plan - Honolulu Civil Beat

ELECTION NEWS:

QUICK HITS:

Comments